Monday, June 30, 2008

There is a lot of real estate for sale in Virginia City - historical, run down, and otherwise. The Silver Queen Saloon is one of them. Inside is a (tacky) wedding chapel, and 29 re-done hotel rooms. Plus this picture. Beatiful isnt she? Her dress is covered with over 3,000 silver dollars. Never did find out how much they were asking for the saloon. This is the Piper Opera House. Now, for some reason, the photo of the B&B did not download. But it was jsut down the street from here, The B Street House B&B. Built by one of the Piper brothers. Bought 3 years ago by a lovely couple who have some sort of far sighted vision. Becuse we saw photos of what the place looked like when they bought it. Had been empty for decades - empty except for the feral cats that lived there. And the last owner had taken out all the good stuff...lamps, door knobs, etc. Left a gutted 2d floor. And a nasty first floor. And in 3 short years this was transformed into a beautiful beautiful B&B. The downstairs is restored. Since there was nothing to restore upstairs, they made 3 guest rooms, all with private baths. The place is beautiful (if you dont believe me, look at the website www.BStreetHouse.com. And the food....wow! Coffee, tea and cookies in the afternoon. And here is the menu for our breakfast: sparkling apple juice, mango-orange juice, coffee, tea or cocoa; blueberry mini muffins, scones, apricot and blackberry preserves; cantalope, honeydew plate with kiwi and mediteranean style yogurt cheese; herb shirred eggs with parmesan florentine, apricot ginger chicken breakfast sausage, red potatoes. We were so embarrassed because we could not do justice to all this food!

Dinner the night before was fantastic at Cafe Del Rio. Primarily Mexican food but on Wednesdays they have Gospel fried chicken, with corn, and mashed potatoes. Apparently quite the local favorite. I finally heard why it was called Gospel....because it is devine!!! And please remember, if you have one of there fabulous margaritas (I dont normally like margaritas and almost drank hubby's 2d one until I realized I needed to be the DD), that you are at over 6,000 feet elevation! Apparently the owners bought this place 4 years ago and completely renovated it also...

We reluctantly said goodbye...and definetely plan to go again since we didnt even see 1/2 of what is offered there nd drove back down towards Reno...and this is what we saw. More smoke. At over 6,000 feet up we had gotten out of the smoke pretty much. But we were back in it for the entire drive home Thursday. Got home, did laundry, and jsut vegged.

And then daughter and family arrived for the weekend and the rest of the vacation started Friday....

According to the Virginia City literature, this is the largest and most photographed landmark. What I thought was interesting was the photo inside that showed this place as a huge and thriving city once upon a time...this Catholic church was built by an IRISH miner who, 20 years later, became the first bishop of California. We went on a mine tour. Not as intersting as you - or we - would think. Walked crouched over for awhile - which made us realize why the Welch and Cornish men were good miners (my grandfather's side is Welch). Wanted to get my son a tshirt from here. But it closed down when the town rolled up the sidewalks....lots of saloons in town. Of two genres....a big empty room with old photos and a bar....or a big empty room filled with slot machines, old photos and a bar. This was the latter so thought it would be open. It wasnt.

I was disappointed becuase I couldnt find any good souveneirs. I thought there would be "chunks" of fake silve ore....or "silver" medallions, or something. There wasnt. And the red light tour wasnt going on that day....

So we headed to Virginia City to meet up with daughter and her family. Vaguely remembered the directions (remember, the GPS system conked out on us). Turns out we went the long way - but I was actually finally able to see something beautiful about Nevada! And these high plains were beautiful! You really cant see them in this photo - but those are some wild mustangs on the plain (we were stopped becuase of construction).

The big thing was for PaPa and Owen to ride the train...PaPa loves steam trains, so guess what. The steam train broke down the weekend before we got there.....but we went on the train ride anyway and everyone had a great time. Especially Owen when he got to have his photo taken with these guys after the ride! Left the car and walked up to town ...jsut a couple of blocks....hilly blocks....see the sign? For some reason I am having a hard time posting photos....so will continue Wed on another day. But will leave you with the photo of the newspaper office where Mark Twain did some work...

So Tuesday, after breakfast, we took off because of hubby's tee time. Headed north on Highway 49, with no stopping....except for construction. And the smoke. See the smoke in the photos? We left home with the world in a haze and it just seemed to get worse...

I think this rarilroad bridge is probably really beautiful when you can see it. In fact - that was the mantra on our trip - boy, I bet this is beautiful - if you could see it! There were times that you could jsut barely see beyond the edges of the highway... So hubby is playing golf at The Resort at Squaw Ridge. Tried to get a room there without success. So I drove back to look at the Donner Memorial, only to find it is a state park and you have to pay jsut to park....so I left. Drove around Truckee only to find out that you have to pay to pack everywhere - $1/hour and it only takes coins and credit cards. Not about to use a credit card and I didnt have enough coins....So I drove into Squaw Valley to mail something at their quaint post office. Beautiful area. Expensive homes. Then I drove to Tahoe City and got my first glimpse of Lake Tahoe. And I was not impressed. Maybe it was the surroundings....maybe it was all the smoke in the air but I didnt see any blue lake at all...and no beaches there, just moorings. Oh well. So I went back to the parking lot near the golf course and read. It really is a beautiful setting. And after he was done, we found out our brand new GPS system was no longer working. Great. No maps with us (yes, hubby use to be a boy scout once upon a time) but we know which way to head. Called daughter and asked her how to get to the Peppermill....

And here is a lesson for everyone...if the front desk clerk does not know where your room is located, it is time to leave. She printed out the paper - asked if we knew where it was - and when we responded that we had never been there before - I knew we were in trouble. Cause apparently she didnt know where the room was. B ut she got a mpa and faked us all out very well. Showed us on the map where to go and told us how to get there. Which we repeated back. And we headed off. Ended up where we were supposed to be - according to the map and her directions - and no room. Tried another way - no room. BAck tracked - no room.

So found a hall phone - and the operator put me thru to housekeeping, which was no help at all. She then transferred us to security and the very nice man on the phone sent someone to us. Who immediately told us we were not even in the right building and didnt understand why the person had sent us there - even asked for her name so he could talk with her (I still havent recieved a response from The Peppermill - but am not holding my breath either0. So he took us to our room....out of that building...into a carved up parking lot....adjacent to the fence that was somewhat containing all the contruction...through the parking lot for the construction workers....and into the building at the far far back of the complex. Made sure the room was okay...oh, and on this trek, even helped to carry our luggage for us! So, altho we probaby will never go back nor cn we recommend it, if you are ever there and see a Security person named Thomas, jsut know tht he is really a knight in shining armour!

So here is a picture of what was outside our room. Yes I know people dont go to Reno for the view but...

The casino there is actually very clean. The food - yuck. Ate at the buffet of course (why do men love buffets so much?) - the bread was all stale; the fruit consisted of canned peaches, cantalope and honeydew; very little in the salad bar; the dessert bar was a laugh - the selection and tast bad - c'mon, mini donuts for dessert????? Were they leftovers from breakfast???

So after hubby had fun at the slots and I got tired of walking in circles, back to the room and to bed....to be awakened at 5 AM - yes, you read it right - FIVE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING!!!!!! - by construction! If the sun was up, we couldnt tell because the smoke was so very very bad. C'mon, in places with casinos people are supposedly jsut going to bed at 5 AM, not being awakened by construction!!!!

So we started out Monday morning, made it over to Highway 49 around Jamestown. And darn if I did not forget to check to see if tht fabulous restuarant was still there! Got to Sonora and walked around, checked out a Military museum and found a FABULOUS yarn store!

Everything in there arranged by color families - and yarn from basic stuff (some great colors of Lamb's Pride I had not seen before) to glitz! Great stuff on sale too! And fantastic store models. If you are in the area, the store is called By Hand Yarn and the website is www.byhandyarn.com.

Continued on our way - got to see Angel's Camp which I have always wanted to see. And I was very disappointed. Not sure what I expected - but this wasnt it. The town - home of the Calaveras Jumping Frog contest, publicized of course by Mark Twain - has painted frogs all over it. Difficult to see, but this is the gold frog!

This is an example of a building there - but like so many of the towns, a lot of the places were empty. Had a good sandwich at a deli there in town tho. Cannot remember where this was - we drove thru and I just thought this old fire engine was a great photo op. Made it to Placerville where we were spending the night. Warning: most of the towns had a lot of places closed on Monday but in Placerville just about EVERYTHING was closed on MOnday! Including places to eat! The only places open for dinner were franchise/chain places. We had a huge and good meal at the Buttercup Pantry but I wanted to eat at one of the places that specialized in Hangtown Fry (not that I wanted to try it tho!). And would have loved to check out the needlepoint shop that had one of my friends designs in the window - Dutch Treat design! This was the B&B we stayed at, the Alfred Shafsky house. Nice. The bedroom - the Gandy Dancer room - was really neat. All train stuff - and to hubby's delight, some Walt Disney train art too! But, although good, breakfast was a little sparse (never thought of making a strawberry shortcake using scones and yogurt, but they were good!). Problem was - no parking! It is residential and on a very busy street - so no parking. It was within a block of downtown which was nice - we got to walk over and look at all the closed stores and restuarants...And there is a lovely house for sale 3 doors up for low $300,000 if you are interested...

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Actually the place called it 3D/4D but I have no clue what a 4D ultrasound is!

Anyway, my daughter jsut had one done to confirm or not that #3 is a boy. Well, it is a boy and so we are looking forward to welcoming Luke in September! In the 3D photos he looks a lot like his older brother Jack!

We are off this week on vacation. Going to meander along Highway 49 - spend a night in Placerville - and then the next night in Reno. The next day we will head to Virginia City where we will meet up with out other daughter and her 2 kids - two of the boys (her son and my hubby) are looking forward to riding the train!

After we spend the night in Virginia City - we will head home - and that same daughter will also drive down here. After spending Friday at the county fair, we will head to Monterey to take her son to the Aquarium for a belated birthday experience!

So, I wont be posting for awhile! Hope to get the baby blanket for our dear friend's first grandchild almost done on this trip!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Nope, the calendar doesnt say summer yet, but the California hills sure do!No more winter green - they are the gold that makes California the Golden State!

Just talked to my 3 year old grandson on his birthday and he was so excited to tell me that he has "my anus" in my bedroom! At first I thought something was terribly wrong becuase my daughter could barely talk to me....but it turns out it was because of tears of laughter! They bought him starts and planets to put up in his room....so URANUS is in his room! Only he doesny call it URANUS he calls it MYANUS!!! Kids can be so funny cant they?

Friday, June 6, 2008

These are my Fair entries this year. No hopes for winning - jsut glad to get the free ticket - and watch my family hunt for my entries!

This is Kaia's dress. Cotton - and I dont really like knitting with cotton. The finishing of this is not up to my own standards! Note the buttons off to the side - to cover a hole on the neck crochet edging - since I can barely crochet!

This camera does not capture colors well. These colors are dark and drab not light and bright! The yarn did not knit up as nicely as I hoped. It is a stretchy yarn, so yes, those socks do fit me and they are actually the same size! I liked the yarn in the ball much better than knitted. I do not think I will be using this yarn again!

I cannot tie a decent bow to save my life! Took me 3 tries to find a ribbon that is just "okay". Am not thrilled with this - the pattern was not well written - and the sizing seems off. If DD#1 has a boy, as she probably will, I will gladly rip this out and make a pair of socks for myself with this yarn!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

And there is a lot of catching up to do...no wonder I dont feel as though I can catch up on my rest yet....The photos are out of sequence, but I just don't feel like taking the time to rearranging them...

Out of sequence....someday I will get this down pat...but here is the grandson who lives in Nevada...enjoying his corn after he ate his pierogies and sausage! And sitting at his 'new' table (it was my parent's table...then went to DD#1...and now DD#2... who is so glad to have a table/chairs and a couch after living without for a month!)

To start off backwards - these are two photos taken after Grandson #1 end of year program at his Junior K class! Next year he goes on to Kindergarten....what a big boy! See his little brother playing on the slides? He had a hard time sitting thru the program - a mixture of prayers and songs and a slide show of all the students. But in the not too distant future it will be his turn to star in a program too... Last week we drove a U-Haul full of things up to DD#2 in Nevada. And still managed not to take some things with us....Thank goodness the rain/snow from Memorial Day weekend was over! The weather was actually lovely - and it was surprising to find it was 91F when we arrived there - it did not feel that hot!

Had to stop for gas....and hubby decided we had to stop in Truckee...can you see the prices there? On the way back (sans U-Haul and with much better gas mileage) we stopped in Boomtown where the gas was $3.97/gallon. Wish I could find that around here... I guess this emphasizes why the state is calling for drought conditions. See those ski runs? Last year and the year before they were still ski-ing in June... Brand new house so they have all the backyard landscaping to do. And it is surprisingly a big yard! Big enough for a new grand-dog (#3 in that family) - Yuki? Yuke? She is a cutie tho! And here is another cutie. 8 month old grand-daughter who finally warmed up to her Papa the next day, just before we left! She is a little butterball, who doesnt feel that heavy when you pick her up - but she is very chubby looking! Her brother's photo was supposed to be next but somehow did not get downloaded with this group and I just dont want to spend the time moving it from the top...so her brother is the one at the top of the page!Back in time to attend the pinning ceremony for my nurslings - Chabot Nursing School Class of 2008! I feel comfortable posting this photo cause it is so far away and blurred I would be surprised if anyone can identify anyone in this photo! Touching ceremony as usual - and they presented us (faculty) with a cool 2009 calendar with a montage of their photos! I will value that for a long time!

Can't believe it is already June...and today looks like full blown June Gloom going on...but that is okay. I have to get my projects ready to turn into the County Fair this weekend. Still cant figure out the ribbon addition to the kimono sweater...and am washing the Grand-daughter's dress before I sew the buttons on. So I have three items entered: some socks, the dress, and the sweater. Don't expect any ribbons - but will enjoy the free ticked to the fair!

And I will get to see grand-daughter and Grandson #2 again when they come down at the end of the month!

About Me

I am a diploma nursing school grad who went back and got her BSN (2004) and her MSN in Nursing Education (2007). Worked in a level II nursery for 20+ years, and as a part time Pediatric Clinical Instructor. Now am a full time lead instructor for a nursing school. Mother of 3 - grandmother of 5 (4 grandsons, 1 granddaughter!)